Slain Mountie remembered as a loving father, nature lover and hero

VICTORIAVILLE — Family members of one of three RCMP officers murdered in Moncton, N.B., described Constable Dave Joseph Ross as a loving father, nature lover and hero at a tearful news conference in his hometown of Victoriaville Friday.

“I would describe my son as a hero, my hero,” said his mother Hélène Rousseau. “I am so proud of all he accomplished in his life.”

Rousseau was 32 years old, married with an 18-month-old son and another child on the way. He was a police dog handler with the Codiac Regional RCMP, which he joined in 2007 after graduating from the police technical services program at La Cité College in Ottawa.

Rousseau told of the conversation she’d had with her son via Facetime just two days before he died. She said he ended the call the way he always did, with the words, “Never forget how much I love you.”

“I can still see his smile as we talked,” Rousseau said. “I was at work and we talked about our projects, our new house we are building and his work … He loved his work, and when he called us he always talked about his work. He died doing what he loved to do.”

She described how Ross was also a dedicated hunter and fisher, and regularly brought home fresh fish, deer and duck for family barbecues.

“I can still see him at the barbecue, cooking the steak, burning the bacon … so many good memories.”

She described the horror and confusion Wednesday as she learned several RCMP officers had been shot and awaited news of her missing son. Due to a miscommunication, for several hours, she thought her son was one of two wounded officers in surgery, until she got a call saying that in fact, he had not yet been located.

“Then I waited for about another hour. God knows how long a wait like that is, to get a call like that. I had been worried he was in a ditch somewhere, or with the killer, or wounded and trying to get help. But when they called back I had a feeling in my mother’s heart that it was over.”

When the phone rang again, she let her husband answer, because she knew it was bad news. “When I saw my husband’s eyes, I knew that my mother’s heart had not been wrong.”

Constable Dave Ross from the Codiac RCMP police dog services unit and his wife, Rachael Ross. Const. Ross was killed along with two other Mounties on Wednesday. (Photo by Facebook)

She spoke of her son’s happy, four-year marriage to Rachael Vander Ploeg, how much he loved being a father, and how they’d planned to have four children. Vander Ploeg works as a nurse in Moncton, and is expecting a baby in September. “She sent me a text last night just to say that the baby is okay, because I had been worried since she is pregnant. She is okay. She is very strong. She just needs a lot of prayers and that will help her.”

Ross’s brother, Olivier Juneau-Rousseau, wept at the news conference as he described the older brother he idolized.

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“We grew up together and were close, although there was an age gap.” Juneau-Rousseau said. “He brought me hunting when I was little and he taught me so much. Dave was somebody who loved nature and animals. … He watched over me and took care of me and just because he is gone doesn’t mean he will stop watching over us. He always wanted to work with dogs and he died doing what he loved.”

Victoriaville Mayor Alain Rayes said flags in the municipality, about 160 kilometres northeast of Montreal, will be at half mast in honour of Ross. He asked residents of Victoriaville and elsewhere to leave their front porch lights on Friday night, as a gesture of solidarity with the dead and injured RCMP officers.

Residents of Moncton had been asked to keep their outdoor lights on to help in the 30-hour manhunt that ended Thursday just after midnight when the suspect, 24-year-old Justin Bourque, was arrested in a resident’s backyard.